Monday, June 7, 2010
The Iowa Utilities Board has issued final standards for interconnection of wind, solar and other forms of clean energy to the Iowa electric grid. These rules are the culmination of years of advocacy by the Environmental Law & Policy Center and a coalition of clean energy business, agricultural and environmental groups.
Interconnection is the process of linking clean distributed wind power and solar energy sources of electric generation to the grid. The new standards create a clear process for Iowa citizens and utilities to bring their clean energy sources online with standard forms, affordable fees and reasonable insurance requirements. Iowa previously had loose interconnection guidelines that resulted in a complicated patchwork of rules.
The new Iowa standards are built on a model by ELPC in Illinois and South Dakota. The goal is to “facilitate the addition of distributed generation” to the electric distribution system. The rules minimize burdensome insurance requirements and application fees for small systems, and they include standard forms and contracts to streamline and provide transparency to the process.
The Iowa Utilities Board’s Final Order which includes the final interconnection rules, forms and standard agreements is available here: https://efs.iowa.gov/efiling/groups/external/documents/docket/041781.pdf
The Iowa Utilities Board Staff Memo describes the process: https://efs.iowa.gov/efiling/groups/external/documents/docket/041952.pdf
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is seeking public input on a program that aims to increase the amount of electricity generated by small renewable energy projects, known as distributed generation.
ELPC recently helped South Dakota enact interconnection standards, the rules necessary to help small energy producers connect to the grid. ELPC Policy Advocate Matt McLarty said that gathering public input on its Small Renewable Energy Initiative is a ”critically important step.”
“If South Dakota is going to see its potential fully develop, especially in wind, this is a critical step to layer businesses, as well as small producers, to start a dialogue and get this going,” McLarty said.
Read coverage of the initiative in the Argus Leader
the public can comment on the initiative through this website
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Friday, June 12, 2009
ELPC helped create interconnection standards in South Dakota that will make it easier for renewable energy producers to connect to the grid. Those rules were officially approved on June 9, 2009 and will be effective at the end of this month. The rules will pave the way for South Dakota to take advantage of its renewable energy potential.
Read the front page story about the new rules in the Argus Leader.
Friday, May 29, 2009
On May 28, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved new state rules to simplify the connection of wind turbines, solar panels, and other clean energy systems to the electric grid. The standards create a consistent statewide process for connecting smaller renewable energy projects and avoid the uncertainty and costs associated with the previous patchwork of regulations.
ELPC has worked to put interconnection standards in place in several Midwestern states including Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, as part of its mission to create economic development and environmental progress together. The new rules must be approved by a legislative committee before becoming final.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A new report, Freeing the Grid, gives Illinois and ELPC high marks on the state’s new interconnection and net metering policies. The report highlights best and worst practices in net metering and interconnection standards across the country and describes Illinois’ relatively new standards.
“The success in Illinois resulted from effective legislation and great collaboration at the regulatory level. Workshops and hearings that had little tangible results through mid-2007 came to new life with passage of legislation requiring that the ICC establish rules. Both before and after the legislation, the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) coordinated the efforts of non-utility parties and spearheaded workshop discussions, doggedly avoiding the specter of rulemaking by attrition of interested parties.”
Download the report [pdf file].
Saturday, June 28, 2008
ELPC is working on many fronts to increase the use of less-polluting, energy efficient, and renewable electricity generation. One goal is to reduce reliance on old, dirty, centralized power plants and advance “distributed generation” – literally shifting some generation of electricity to wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, combined heat & power (CHP) systems, and other clean and efficient resources that are distributed across the electric grid and are often sited at a customer’s home or small business.
Interconnection Standards
In order to accomplish this structural shift, state policies must be reformed. Statewide interconnection standards make it easier to connect solar panels, wind turbines and other clean energy systems to the electric grid. These standards streamline the interconnection process by including uniform engineering requirements, reasonable fees and timelines, standard application forms and legal agreements, and “expedited review” for small projects.
Net Metering
Net metering is a special metering and billing agreement between utilities and their customers which allows customers to sell excess electricity back to the grid and gives customers a financial incentive to invest in renewable sources of energy. When a net metering customer’s renewable generator is producing more power than the customer needs, the electric meter runs backward, generating credits. At the end of the billing period, the customer is only charged for the “net” power that they consume.
Model Net Metering and Interconnection Standards
ELPC’s “Model Net Metering and Interconnection Standards for Renewable Energy Systems” were developed with the input of industry experts and reflect recent best practices at the state level. Although the model contains both net metering and interconnection standards, these two parts can be used separately. To make it easier, the Net Metering Standards[pdf file] and Interconnection Standards[pdf file] are also available as two separate documents.
Promoting State Policy Changes
ELPC leads broad coalitions of clean energy advocates and entrepreneurs to promote distributed generation and the necessary state policy changes across the Midwest and Great Plains. ELPC’s advocacy and technical expertise has helped Illinois, Michigan and South Dakota finalize their interconnection standards, and has moved Iowa’s rules toward completion.
In addition to our leadership in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and South Dakota, ELPC is providing key regional perspective and expertise to support similar projects across the region. We expect our current and future work to significantly reduce existing barriers to distributed generation, which will help diversify electricity generation, provide economic benefits, and encourage the development of efficient and clean sources of power in the Midwest and Great Plains.
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